Game-board.



PATENTED JAN. 9, 1906.

I. SILVERNAIL. GAME BOARD.

APPLICATION FILED MAR.6,1905.

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ISAAC SILVERNAIL, OFSYRAGUSE, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO JAMES SPEIRS, OF SYRACUSE, NEW YORK.

GAME-BOARD.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. .9, 1906.

Application filed March 6, 1905. Serial No. 248,578.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ISAAC SILVERNAIL, of Syracuse, in the county of Onondaga, in the State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Game Boards, of which the following, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to improvements in game-boards on which a rubber ball is placed and is adapted to be driven by a suitable one or equivalent device across the bottom of the board and into one of a series of curved or circular ball-races, which are formed in a raised marginal flange surrounding the main body of the game-board.

The object of the game is to drive the ball with sufiicient accuracy and force into one of a series of pocketless ballraces,so as to emerge from said race and travel across the table and into a hole or pocket, through which it drops by gravity into one of a series of numbered compartments of the underlying receptacle.

It will be apparent from the following description that two or more players may engage in the game and that the total count or score of each player depends, first, upon his ability to drive the ball accurately into one of the races; second, to drive the ball with sufficient force to carry it entirely through such raceway and across the table into one of the pockets, and, third, to cause the ball to enter a compartment in the underlying receptacle having as high a number as possible.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a top plan of my improved game-board, showing a cue in dotted lines as about to engage the ball. Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view taken on line 2 2, Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is an enlarged top plan of one of the detached receptacles which underlie the pockets. Fig. 4: is an enlarged sectional view through said receptacle and the overlying portion of the game-board.

A represents my improved game-board as substantially rectangular or square in top plan and provided with a raised marginal flange a, having a series of, in this instance eight, circular raceways or races 1 and 2, each of which has its inner side open toward the center of the board to permit the entrance of the ball, as B, which is driven across the board by a suitable cue O. The circular recesses or ball-races 1 are located in the corners of the marginal flange (0 and the curved or circular ball-races 2 are located in the sides of the flange (/1 between the ball-races 1 and are each provided with an opening or pocket L, extending through the bottom of the board and in vertical alinement with the center of an underlying receptacle 5. The center of the game-board within the marginal flange a is substantially flat and may be covered with cloth or other suitable material, and the ball-races 1 and 2 are formed by boring or cutting circular openings vertically through the inner edge of the marginal flange, so that the inner sides of the ballraces are open and face the center of the board. It now appears that there are four of the corner ball-races 1, having imperforate flat bottoms in substantially the same plane as the center of the board, and that there are an equal number of intermediate ball-races 2 alternatingwith the ball-races 1 and each having a flat bottom in the same plane as the center of the board, but provided with an aperture or pocket 4:, which is located near the upright circular wall of the raceway 2, so that the ball traveling around such raceway at a sufficiently slow speed will readily drop into the pocket 4 and thence centrally into the underlying receptacle 5. In thisinstance there are four of these receptacles 5, one for each pocket 4:, and each receptacle is provided with a series of radial projections 6 to form a series of compartments 7 which are numbered consecutively in this instance from 1 to 6, and the inner sides of said compartments are open toward the center of the receptacle to permit an incoming ball to enter any one of the compartments, the center of the bottom of each receptacle being slightly elevated or conical to cause the ball to gravitate into one of the compartments.

In order to render the game more interesting and difficult, I provide the mouth of each of the raceways 1 with a pair of raised projections 8, which are secured to the bottom of the board just inside of the circular ball-race and are separated from the upright walls of the ball-race a sufiicient distance to allow the ball to enter freely between either of the projections 8 and the adjacent curved side of the ball-race, but are separated from each other a considerable distance to leave a broad open space facing the center of the board.

It Will be observed that the bottom of the board is provided with a series of points 12, one for each of the ball-races 2 and substantially central with reference to the curved wall of the ball-race, the object of which will be apparent in the description of the operation.

The operation of my invention is as follows: Assuming that two players are to engage in the game, then one of them places the ball upon one of the dots or points 12 and drives it with the cue C toward the opposite pocket 4t, and if the ball enters this pocket it will drop into one of the compartments 7, whereupon the number of the compartment is noted. In like manner the opposed player places the same ball upon one of the dots or points 12 and drives it to the opposite pocket, and if it enters this pocket it will likewise fall into one of the compartments 7 of the underlying receptacle, and the number of this compartment is then noted and compared with the number of the compartment into which the competitor had previously driven the ball. The opponent driving the ball into the compartment having the highest number is now entitled to the first play, and he begins by placing the ball into any suitable position upon the board where it may be driven into one of the ball-races 2 between one of the projections 8 and adjacent side of the ball-race. This of course requires some accuracy in the handling of the cue, and if the ball is driven with sufl icient accuracy and force it follows around the curved ballrace 1 and passes out between the opposite projection 8 and adjacent face of the race and takes a tangential course across the board toward the opposite sides of the adjacent ball-race 2. If the momentum of the ball is not too great, it will travel around the ball-race 2 and drop into the pocket 4 and thence into one of the compartments 7 of the underlying receptacle 5. This completes the first play and gives the other opponent a chance to similarly drive the ball into any one of the ball-races 1, the object being to drive the ball with sufficient accuracy and force to travel entirely around the ball-race 1 and into the ball-race 2, which is opposite to the point in the ball-race 1 where the ball emerges, so that the ball may travel partially around the ball-race 2 and into the pocket 4 and thence into the underlying receptacle 7. This completes one competitive play, and the comparative scores are determined, first, by the ability to cause the ball to enter one of the pockets 4 after traveling around the ballrace 1 and, second, to cause the ball to enter a compartment in the receptacle 5, having as large a number as possible, and if the oppo- Dents both succeed in forcing the ball into one of the pockets 4 in the manner described their competitive scores are determined by the number of the compartments into which the ball falls.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A game-board having a series of circular ball-races, one of which is provided with an opening in its bottom and a receptacle underlying the opening and having a series of compartments for receiving the ball.

2. A rectangal'ar game-board having a circular raceway in each corner and one in each side, each raceway having its side toward the center of the board open, one of the raceways having an opening in its bottom substantially midway between its ends.

3. A game-board having a raised marginal flange formed wit-h curved ball-races having open sides facing the center of the board, some of the races being provided with pockets to receive the ball and an underlying receptacle for each pocket, each receptacle having a series of compartments to receive the ball.

4:. A game-board having a raised marginal flange formed with curved ball-races having open sides facing the center of the board, some of the races being provided with pockets to receive the ball and a revoluble receptacle centrally under each pocket and having aseries of radial compartments to receive the ball.

5. A game-board having a flat bottom with four sides, and a raised marginal flange extending around the sides and corners of the bottom, said flange having a series of circular recesses open at the side toward the center of the board, alternate recesses each having an opening in its bottom and its open side located in a'line tangential to one side of one of the other recesses.

6. A game-board having four sides and a raised flange surrounding said sides and corners of the bottom, the corners and sides of the flange each having a circular recess open at one side toward the center of the board, the bottom of each side recess having an aperture therethrough, and revoluble receptacles underlying the apertures and each provided with a series of numbered compartments.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 25th day of February, 1905.

ISAAC SILVERNAIL.

Witnesses:

HOWARD P. DENISON, MILDRED M. Noun,

IOC 

